Fortunato proposes constitutional amendment to outlaw income taxes

Sen. Phil Fortunato introduced legislation Thursday that would amend the state constitution to prohibit an income tax.

“People ask me all the time, ‘Isn’t there a ban against state income taxes?’ ” said Fortunato, R-Auburn. “If people already think it exists, let’s put it in there.”

Proponents of a state income tax claim that the state is in need of more revenue, but state revenues continue to outperform projections. The state is expected to bring in an additional $4.4 billion in the 2015-17 biennium than it did in the 2013-15 budget.

Fortunato added: “Revenue from taxes continue to rise, yet year after year we hear cries for a state income tax. Washington families already pay their fair share and our state has failed to spend that tax money efficiently. The incomes of Washington workers are not bottomless coffers to feed government bureaucracy. It is time we give the people of this state a guarantee that their income is theirs to keep.”